This article was beautifully penned by Martin Oosthuizen from
Ridgewood Retirement Village for their June/ July issue of the
Ridgewood Review.
With his permission I am publishing it on my blog, as I believe he captured the essence of mum perfectly.
“Humour is perhaps a sense of
intellectual perspective:
an awareness that some things are
really important,
others not, and that the two kinds are
most oddly jumbled in everyday affairs.”
Christopher Jarman Morley : Actor (1951- )
1933 - and
Pat arrived as the middle daughter of Pearl (a bookkeeper) and Cecil
Shearman (a senior official in the SAR &H). The story goes that
Cecil teased his daughters saying that he was a banjo player in a brothel rather
than disclose his real job.
A pic taken in the '30s. Mum is the babe in arms, being held by her father.
At the
outset it should be firmly stated, that Pat has experience and as an
independent observer might have said: she has been around the
block a couple of times and knows a few tricks as a result.
Taking the first opportunity, Pat departed from Krugersdorp High School to
attend a secretarial college but, more importantly, to play sport. If Pat
did not have the musical talent of her two sisters Shirley, a pianist and
conductor, and Colleen a dancer and dancing teacher, she left them standing
when it came to activities on the sports field. Her achievements were
formidable. Provincial colours for both Transvaal and Natal in hockey,
softball, badminton and cricket. In fact, she also played
cricket for South Africa. Father Cecil had played provincial cricket
for Border for 20 years.
Expanding on her efforts at music, Pat relates that she initially wished to
please her mother who wanted her to be the singer among the sisters. “My mother
was convinced I would be a singer and sent me to Eve Boswell’s mother,
requiring me to travel by train and foot to the other side of
Johannesburg. There I sang my heart out. But to no avail.
My musical sisters said I gave Hugo Keleti (Eve Boswell’s father)
his squint.”
The three Shearman Sisters
Having worked for a pupil advocate, Anton
Mostert, who later became a well-known Judge, Pat sought adventure in
London for a year during 1957 where she met a moustached officer and pilot in
the RAF named Malcolm Mounter before returning for a time to Durban. This
officer was then seen with much surprise by Pat the following year, emerging
from the surf at South Beach.
Pat married Malcolm Mounter in September 1959
and settled in Rhodesia. After a short stay, the family - including baby
Lois - moved to Nairobi for 12 years. Malcolm was a Captain in East
African Airways, initially flying Dakotas before progressing to Comets and VC
10s.
Sport continued to attract Pat. This time it was golf.
By 1968 both she and Malcolm were champion golfers at their club in
Karen. Leaving Nairobi in 1973, they lived in Bulwer and Johannesburg
before settling in the warm climate of Natal at Mount Edgecombe.
Unsurprisingly, Pat was prepared to inject her considerable energy into the
Golf Committee of the Country Club, including two years as the Ladies Golf
Captain.
In the
meantime, the creative and artistic spirit of the Shearman sisters continued to
niggle Pat. Having abandoned her
mother’s choice of a singing career she nurtured her passion for art - and so
it has remained. Her first sale of a
painting happened in Nairobi and featured five prostitutes standing at their
doorways.
In Durban Maureen Dixon and
Pat held exhibitions at the Mt Edgecombe Country Club with considerable success
and thereafter Pat spent 16 years holding exhibitions for charity with
Christina Godfrey at Gateway and La Lucia Malls with ArtGivers. Encouraging others to give art a try, Pat
taught art at the Sunfield School for the mentally handicapped. Such work gave her much satisfaction and many
rewards, including art of a high standard and the sale of paintings in America
by one of the pupils.
After 20 years at Mt Edgecombe Estate the
Mounters felt that the time was right for a move to Ridgewood. They have
never regretted their move in 2013. Typically, Pat was prepared to serve and
was appointed to the Board within weeks. Since then she has continued to
serve on the Board in various roles. At present she is the
secretary. Being a trustee was not her only contribution to life at the
Village. As its longstanding editor Pat produced the Ridgewood Newsletter
(renamed the Ridgewood Review in 2019) single-handedly. It was gratefully
received and enjoyed by the residents.
Pat
still happily draws, paints and produces bookmarks, birthday and Christmas
cards together with any other cards that may be required. Moreover, her
cartoons are outstanding. So much so that they are a permanent fixture in
that literary journal, Ridgewood Review, which sets the highest of
international standards!!
At present, Pat is working on
a painting project for her daughter Lois, producing some of the Stations of the
Cross for a rural church. Lois and her husband live on a game farm in
Zululand. Besides working as a graphic designer (the superb layout of the
Ridgewood Review is a fine example of her much-appreciated work), Lois is a
writer, editor, cook, baker and vegetable gardener. In 2019 Pat retired
as editor but generously accepted the vital positions of senior consultant,
photographer, cartoonist and senior social journalist of the Review.
During the Lockdown, Pat
expressed her concerns about the discomfort created by a ban on the sale of
liquor, among the many others, suffered by the population. In a
letter published by You magazine, Pat - having identified herself as an
87 year old veteran - set out emphatically her views on the matter:
“…..being good citizens we stay at home. But when oh when will they open
the bottle stores? It’s not that we are alcoholics, but we are running
short of wine and beer.” This would be a point supported by millions and
eventually by the authorities.
Perhaps, it should be
recorded, in conclusion, that Pat is not a pushover. It took courage and
fortitude to negotiate this interview. In fact, it was necessary to make
a number of demands and threats. But what a pleasure it has been.
To have such a marvelous talent and generous character in our midst, is a
wonderful thing.
